Bosch Display Upgrade or Bail out?

[sandwich]

Hi all, I have a Diamondback Union 1 that I'm trying to upgrade to increase functionality a bit. One of those upgrades would be changing the Purion display for something with a remote and ideally HR/garmin Varia compatibility. Is there any head unit that is compatible with a System 2 setup that might give me apple HR transmitting and radar display? Is the smartphone hub compatible with the cannondale app? That was my original intent as it is apparently Bosch and Varia compatible.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[fooferdoggie]

You can't get any of that in the nyon or kiox. Well, you can get your BP from your watch as long as your phone is connected to the display. But don't get the smartphone hub, it was a disaster. Either your phone or a GPS is needed to get the radar on your bike. Even the new system, I don't think, can deal with the radar. But it's nice to have your riding info, like how many watts you put out, calorie count, and all that. I would get a Nyon as it is still somewhat supported. Though a Bluetooth HR is a better way to go than your watch, which eats up the batteries on your watch fast. Plus, you can't see your HR till you ned the ride. It does nto show on the display.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Bike GPS computers such as Wahoo ELEMNT or Garmin Edge connect to both HR monitors and to Garmin Varia. You get "display parameters" such as the cruising speed, distance ridden, HR, graphical output from Varia and many other useful ride parameters (such as the distance to the destination). The Map part ensures the satellite navigation. The Climb screen tells you everything about the hills you are riding on and the incoming climbs. The ride recording allows posting your rides on sports tracker services and analysing your performance post ride.

The only thing these computers cannot do is connecting to a Bosch E-Bike as Bosch is not interested in the connectivity with other parties.

 

[peterh_nz]

Is there any head unit that is compatible with a System 2 setup that might give me apple HR

The "old" System 2 Nyon certainly displays heart rate from various chest HRMs.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The "old" System 2 Nyon certainly displays heart rate from various chest HRMs.

A direct connection or via an app?

 

[fooferdoggie]

The "old" System 2 Nyon certainly displays heart rate from various chest HRMs.

Yes, they finally came up with connecting to your watch, but that does not feed to the Nyon but to the e-bike app. I find the Nyon does not do well with two Bluetooth connections, so I don't connect my phone to it as I use an HRM, and it works great if I don't have the phone hooked up. If I have the phone, it becomes a hassle ot have them both connected every time.

 

[peterh_nz]

A direct connection or via an app?

Direct connection

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Direct connection

Is it Bluetooth?

 

[stompandgo]

The System 2 Kiox connects just fine to my Wahoo Tickr HRM via BTLE. That, and the phone connection to Ebike Connect are it for wireless System 2 connectivity. On the Cannondale, I have a Garmin 840 on the stem for all metrics except power and cadence. The Kiox is set up for power, cadence, battery, assist level, and range. The road metrics come from a Garmin BTLE wheel sensor on the front hub. I do not use the Kiox navigation, as it is just turn by turn. I have a nav screen on the Garmin.

 

[sandwich]

Thanks all. What I'm hearing is that I can't get my varia display on this bike without a Garmin style head unit, though I might be able to get HR through the Kiox or Nyon. I don't need navigation...I just love the idea of minimizing the crap that I have to carry around with me. I consider a varia a safety device at this point so I don't really want to be without. I guess it's probably cheaper and easier to throw a cadence sensor on the Diamondback and send it to the garmin than it is to convert to Kiox and still not get all the functionality I want. I have an HRM strap which I typically wear and can continue, but I wear my apple watch all day every day so it would be great to pull that info from the watch during the commute and not need to bring the strap along.

 

[stompandgo]

No Varia data on any current Bosch head unit.